Z365" or "Festival all year round" is the new strategic point of the Festival in which converge investigation, accompaniment and development of new talents (Ikusmira Berriak, Nest); training and cinematic knowledge transfer (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Zinemaldia + Plus, Filmmakers' dialogue); and investigation, disclosure and cinematic thought (Z70 project, Thought and Discussion and Research and publications).
Christoph Friedel (Würzburg, Germany) became a partner at Pandora Filmproduktion in 2002. His work as a producer focuses on international auteur films, with a special connection to the south of Latin America.
Five of the films he has produced have competed in the Official Selection of the San Sebastián Festival: Home for Christmas (A casa por Navidad, Bent Hamer, Jury Prize for Best Screenplay, 2010), Nocturama (Bertrand Bonello, 2016), High Life (Claire Denis, FIPRESCI Prize, 2018), Puan (María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat, Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance and Jury Prize for Best Screenplay, 2023), and La práctica (Martín Rejtman, 2023).
He has participated in the Horizontes Latinos section with El custodio (Rodrigo Moreno, Special Mention, 2006), Huacho (Alejandro Fernández Almendras, 2009), Gigante (Adrián Biniez, Horizontes Award, 2009), Dos disparos (Martín Rejtman, 2014), Familia sumergida (María Alché, Horizontes Award, 2018), Las herederas (Marcelo Martinessi, 2018), Así habló el cambista (Federico Veiroj, 2019), and Monos (Alejandro Landes, 2019), winner of the Special Jury Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance.
The Berlinale has also recognized some of his productions, such as Drii Winter / A Piece of Sky (Michael Koch, Special Mention, 2022), Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush (Andreas Dresen, Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and Best Leading Performance, 2022), and Pepe (Nelson de los Santos Arias, Silver Bear for Best Director, Zabaltegi – Tabakalera, 2024).
Other notable works in his filmography include Whisky (Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll, Un Certain Regard Prize and FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes, Perlak, 2004), In My Room (Ulrich Köhler, 2018) and Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (Arthur Harari, 2021), also presented in Un Certain Regard, and Transamazonia (Pia Marais, 2024), which competed in Locarno.